Under the largest Antarctic glacier, a lake with warm water was discovered

Researchers Studying Climate ChangeAntarctica, recorded the presence of unusually warm water under the glacier, whose sizes correspond to the size of the US state of Florida. According to an article from the New York Times, the water temperature at the base of the Twits Glacier is two degrees Celsius above the freezing point, thereby creating the danger of rapid melting of centuries-old ice formation and rising sea levels. What else threatens the ever-forming lake under the ice of Antarctica and can we interfere with this process?

Global warming causes massive melting of Antarctic glaciers

Antarctica glaciers melt

Scientists have long warned of dangermelting glaciers of Antarctica, which can cause flooding of a number of large coastal cities around the world. The system of ancient southern glaciers, including Twits, acts like a brake that saves us from a sharp increase in the level of the World Ocean, which, rising by more than a meter, would noticeably change the map of the world. In order to observe activity under the glacier, a team of scientists, led by Dr. David Holland of the Thwaites Glacier Collaboration, drilled a borehole from the surface of the glacier to its bottom, and then deployed equipment that measures the temperature, as well as the miscibility of saltwater with fresh water .

See also: Under the ice of Antarctica discovered the deepest canyon in the world

In total, drilling a 600-meter wellIt took 96 hours of operation at sub-zero temperatures, but the results of the experiment showed that the fears of climate scientists about the dangers of global warming are indeed justified.

Twits Glacier Protects the Planet from Rising Ocean Levels

Despite the fact that scientists cannot accuratelyto predict how soon glaciers like Twits will finally melt, it is clear that the main cause of changes in the total area of ​​ice on the planet is man-made activity. So, it depends on you and me how soon such megalopolises as New York, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, Barcelona and Yokohama will sink under water.

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The presence of an ever increasing number of warmlakes under the ice cover of Antarctica, no matter how remote and deserted it may seem, should serve as an undoubted warning to all of us about the potential catastrophic changes on the planet caused by climate change. According to the researchers, the emergence of even more lakes with meltwater can aggravate the already dangerous situation, causing the ice on the surface of the ice continent to break and gradually fill with water, thereby accelerating the decline in the ice cover of Antarctica and increasing the rate of global warming of the planet.